“Germany has benefits people are not aware of”

Why do international professionals come to Germany or why not? Lorna Cottrill, Head of Talent Acquisition for Healthcare business across Europe, Middle East and Africa at the science and tech company Merck, talks about global talent flows, hurdles in international recruitment and what Germany offers to candidates.

Lorna Cottrill, which field has the highest share of international employees at Merck in Germany?

LC Most of our international employees in Germany are part of research and development, or clinical operations teams.

Are there any niche qualifications that you find often amongst applicants from a certain area?

LC Switzerland is a real hotspot for highly skilled people in the biomeasurement sciences, in R&D, and clinical operations who often bring a lot of experience in pharma—unsurprisingly given the large number of major pharma players based there. Many of those people have studied or worked in Switzerland before, but they are not necessarily all Swiss.

Do you have to recruit internationally to meet the demand for employees?

LC This tends to come in waves: in some years, we have enough candidates in a given region; in others, we do not. Spain is one example: a large proportion of talent there—especially in IT, digital, and tech roles—is not local but often comes from the Nordic countries.

Perhaps they are simply looking for more sun.

LC Certainly (laughing). However, usually it‘s not candidates who are actually native to a Nordic country. It‘s people who have moved there to study or work. It is quite common that people who have already studied abroad, also move because of a job.

Once you have recruited internationals, do they tend to stay or do they go back to their home countries?

LC That varies a lot. Sometimes, people are tied to a visa. And they always have to weigh job and personal security against the prospect of looking for a new role. One challenge, of course, is that people who have moved abroad may want to be closer to their families if something happens at home. Sometimes, they may not be able to stay in their role. But we are a big company: often, there is the opportunity to progress with us—with or without moving.

How does Germany compete with other countries as a place to work and live?

LC Well, Germany does not offer nice Mediterranean beaches or tropical climates. So, in terms of lifestyle, I think, there are other European places that are higher on people‘s lists. However, the role itself may outweigh the location. For us at Merck, the bigger challenge is our location in Germany. Many people are drawn to Berlin, Munich or Hamburg. Even Frankfurt is a popular location, but Darmstadt itself is not top of most international employees‘ lists.

Even though it does not have beaches either, Switzerland is probably a big competitor.

LC Yes, with Novartis, Roche and other companies, Switzerland is a massive hub for pharma, science, and tech and pays incredibly well. However, in Germany, there are also many advantages that people are not necessarily aware of.

Such as?

LC From an employee‘s perspective, Germany offers a high level of protection and strong benefits, certainly more than a lot of other countries, including elsewhere in Europe. For example, employee representation through a works council is far less common in other countries. And the anti-discrimination policies and agreements in Germany are outstanding. There are more general policies elsewhere but in Germany, disabled candidates are supported a lot, also during the recruitment process. The culture is extremely employee-centric in Germany, the polar opposite to markets like the US which is much more business-oriented.

And how about the stereotypical perception of Germany as a country of regulations and bureaucracy?

LC People often think that Germans are work-oriented and everything is process-driven and strictly by the book. But that‘s just a global stereotype about Germany, full stop. As soon as people live there, they realize that this varies from company to company and people are different across Germany.

In your experience, what are the biggest hurdles in hiring internationals?

LC The biggest challenge is the timeline. Visa and work-permit processes can take too long, especially if you are trying to fill a position within a three-month notice period. Within the European Union, things are relatively straightforward; in Germany, there are skilled-worker visa routes. For the UK since Brexit or for Switzerland, this can be more complex. However, if the candidate is the best for a certain role, we will make it work. But I would love to see a world where it becomes easy for people to get the visa and the right to work if they do have the skills, experience and interest in the role.

Have you ever failed to hire someone due to visa issues?

LC Not that I remember. Unfortunately, there were some cases where we lost really good people because they did not want to relocate in the end. Sometimes, people want to do it in theory, but once they‘re offered the role and it really gets to relocation, they realize that they have families in their country and are not as flexible as they thought.

Are there any barriers in language?

LC Language is not a major issue, although it can matter in more junior or operational roles. However, AI helps to quickly translate. My German is terrible but I can still understand emails from German-speaking colleagues now within a few seconds.

And what about education, for example for candidates from countries that have fewer resources for education than Germany or the UK?

LC We try to focus more on skills and experience, not just education. If someone has relevant working experience, a degree earned ten years ago is less relevant. That being said, I think, there is still a bit of an equity issue at more junior levels because there is some unconscious bias, unfortunately. Leaders would maybe rather pick someone who studied in the UK than someone who has a degree from Asia or South America, even if that does not reflect their actual skills.

How do international politics and geopolitical tensions influence employee movement?

LC Current geopolitical tensions do affect the business from a supply chain and business operations perspective, but do not affect international hiring so much. For a while, there was a focus on hiring in the US to strengthen the infrastructure there. And we need to be careful about how we group sites across countries from a management perspective. Certain countries would not be clustered with certain others.

What influence did Brexit have on the UK talent market?

LC Although we initially saw a decline in the number of international workers because the UK became less attractive to some people, it actually made it easier than before to sponsor internationals in the UK, which a lot of people don‘t realize. The resident labour market assessment no longer exists so now we can offer sponsorship to any candidate for a role if they are the best fit, rather than the need for an assessment to justify the decision.

Would you say that there was less global employee movement during the last five to ten years?

LC Overall, probably not. While mobility may be constrained in some countries—for example for geopolitical reasons—it has become easier to relocate and sponsor people in other major markets, including Germany. It is just a shift of focus between countries.

Nachrichten editor Katharina Käfer talked to Lorna Cottrill.

The company Merck: International employees

The science and tech company Merck has over 62,000 employees worldwide, with approximately 12,500 of them based in Germany. Bangalore, St. Louis, Molsheim, Shanghai and Beijing are among the largest sites globally.

At Merck‘s global headquarters in Darmstadt, people from 104 different nations work together.

Globally, Merck employs individuals from 151 countries.

Internationality is highly valued at Merck, with employees in management roles from 94 countries.

About the person: Lorna Cottrill

Lorna Cottrill studied zoology and biology at the Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. Afterwards, she worked in recruitment at a UK supplier supporting the company Merck and joined Merck in the UK in 2019. She started as UK and Ireland Talent Acquisition Partner, then held roles as the UK Talent Acquisition Lead and in Global Executive Strategic Sourcing. Currently, she is Head of Talent Acquisition for Healthcare business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)—Experienced Hire level, leading talent acquisition teams in Germany and Spain.Lorna Cottrill

Photo: private

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